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When I worked in IT in Reading and Slough a lot of colleagues had studied in Kingston and decided to settle in West London. A lot in Ealing who came out to the sticks every day.

What about station on the steepest incline?

Thalys trains are stabled there so I guess it’s for cleaning. Other SNCB stock is stabled nearby and there is a train cleaning team based in between. I see the piles of rubbish bags and their portacabin as I go past into Midi.

This works the other way too. When I'm the UK I stock up on things to bring back to Belgium. Pukka Pies, Pot Noodles, own brand mince beef and onions pies, sausage rolls, T-Cut (couldn't find that in Belgium), decent weedkiller (although I guess the UK is now inline with EU regs), Pataks curry...

I always sat on the vestibule jump seat on Eurostar, usually in the first carriage. Although the train manager comes and sits there in the tunnel and would ask me to move. Get's you away from the screaming kids and noisy tourists. Either that or stand in the bar coach.

A colleague in a former job found a large, unlocked and empty store room in the office basement car park. He changed the locks and kept his motorbikes in there. He had a dishwasher delivered to the office and also put that in there!

Received mine today.

From the Belgian side Thalys is a very well know brand and for getting to Paris is almost a household name. Just like Eurostar is for getting to London. I always thought the best advertising for Thalys is when you are driving along the motorway to Paris from Brussels and get overtaken by a...

A colleague once dropped his suit bag between the platform and train at Swindon. Platform staff waited until a reasonable gap in trains and climbed down to retrieve it. He missed his flight to Amsterdam.

If you've ever flown into Schiphol from outside the EU you will have certainly met the very efficient Dutch customs. "Show me some pictures on this camera".

https://www.businesstraveller.com/business-travel/2020/09/16/eurostar-and-thalys-to-merge-in-2021/?fbclid=IwAR0IM1sajBSjGLeH2nOZuxU8jB4xZFo6ZSSFhIls4OVBxsgkhV2R7Kx4_u4

It would be great if they could stop marketing Stella Artois as being from France. Annoys a lot of people in Belgium :)

Took the train in Latvia a couple of years ago, very impressive scenery. Very odd to see women sitting on a little wooden stool in each vestibul. I asked a friend what they were doing who said "to keep an eye on things". Same thing in every room of the Riga museum. Also odd that nobody has any...

I always assumed QuiGo was to capture the low cost end of the market, older rolling stock, non central in the city on arrival, takes longer, no food, stand if you have to etc. Students and people who are not bothered about service, just want to get there and might otherwise take a budget...

Yes, indeed. Ebbsfleet maybe a bit far out of town but maybe Stratford. I guess all the passport gear is still there. Or at least the room for it. Is there space at Stratford to hold stock before it would head back?

Is there anything to stop OuiGo for example running to somewhere in London other than St Pancras? Much like their Brussels Paris service that uses some conventional lines and which I understand ends up somewhere else, not Gare Du Nord. Presumably cheaper for them.

Looking at some recent new rolling stock they seem to have followed the company car model of having very plain, uniform colours. Azumas mostly grey and the new 315s only have a different colour on the ends. Even Crossrail stock is very bland. Is this to reduce cost on change of franchise?

1984, I was ten years old - My father sang in Porthcawl Male Voice choir which was twinned with the Stuttgart Post Choir. He had been on tour with the choir to West Germany the year before and we were invited back as a family to stay with the friends he had made. We took the train from Bridgend...

Does Boston Docks still get any traffic?

Makes sense if it's the same shift.